Gigabyte WF3 7950

[l3jmr]

This is what happened to my 3 weeks old gigabyte today, had to put out a fire   It poped while i turned on the PC, not while mining

[Gordon Bleu]

What PSU ?
powered Riser ?

[l3jmr]

Thermaltake 850w, no powered riser on this one, there is only one more 7950 currenty in the mobo so power should be sufficent.

[ktbken]

This is very common. i have had 2 do exactly the same and know people who have had 8+ go pop.
i was hoping they had fixed this issue with the new rev 3 cards

[l3jmr]

Does warranty apply to this? I sure hope so Did this happen only to gigabyte cards or 7950 in general?

[HellDiverUK]

Scorchio!  Those cards do run incredibly hot in that area - I stuck a load of RAM heatsinks to the metal bar, which kept mine a bit cooler.  I also had a 120mm fan blowing on the back of the cards, and they still ran about 85C around the VRMs when mining LTC.  Terrible design.

Thankfully mine all survived long enough for me to sell them for the same price I paid for them (bought used off eBay and sold again on eBay).

[l3jmr]

I had the costum bios installed 1,069V , it didnt run that hot at all about 75C

[redtwitz]

I had the costum bios installed 1,069V , it didnt run that hot at all about 75C

75 ºC was your GPU temperature, which isn't where the fire started. The failing component was a VRM (voltage regulator module), which do get quite a bit hotter than the GPU.

Sadly, there's no way to monitor the VRMs' temperature in rev. 2 cards. Not that rev. 1 cards are any better. While the rev.1 does let you monitor the temps, the VRMs aren't covered by the heatsink. That's just as deadly...

[HellDiverUK]

75 ºC was your GPU temperature, which isn't where the fire started.

This.

[crazyates]

I had a Gigabyte WF3 7970, and the GPU Core temps were always fine, but the VRM temps were outrageous. I never liked having VRM temps in the 115C range, and had to fight to keep them below 100C.

Those VRMs overheating is a known issue with those cards. It's a shame, cuz they mine REALLY well.

[sikman]

I have 18 x 7950 and so far only 1 x GB WF3 has blown up, fingers crossed!!!

[xgtele]

This is a common problem with Gigabyte cards. Personally I have 3x7950 dead with the same symptoms. Also 3x7970 with fried capacitors, but they are still working fine:

http://imgur.com/a/ovHug/

You need to RMA your card, here is instructions from Gigabyte:

Dear customer,

Please use the following link to register and request for RMA.
http://ggcs.gigabyte.com/service/Login_US.aspx

Thank you


Customer Service Center
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY
TEL:     1-626-854-9338 Op. 4
FAX:     1-626-854-9326
EMAIL: services@gigabyteusa.com
www.gigabyte.us

My dead cards have been replaced with the new ones. Easy process.

[l3jmr]

holy shit looks like a poor design. So even if i get a new replacement card it will be a ticking time bomb Should probably just sell it and get a sapphire/power color

[xgtele]

Well, yesterday my another Gigabyte 7950 died after 5 moths of life.. With sparks and smoke.. These cards are made to die fast! Sh*t

[l3jmr]

Ouch that sucks, i feel you pain...personally i will never ever again buy a gigabyte card.

[wedge]

Yup, I just lost another one of these.  I've lost count of how many of these cards of mine have died this way.  I think it's 4 or 5 out of 8 that I bought brand new just 3 months ago.  
All are running the F43 bios at 1.09v.  GPU temps stay in the low 70's or less.  And it happens regardless of whether I'm using a powered riser or not.

Real shame they have this problem, as they are fantastic miners.

[vvhiteknight]

Yo, ive had 8 go. Here is a video of one i made earlier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG2ZRT1mRWE

[sbfree]

hello. Best suggestion for a Gigabyte 7950 that has a fan going bad? I bought it in april, and have the box and all. I was thinking of buying a replacement fan and installing myself, but haven't found one online yet.

[Foss]

Same story: died after 3 months litecoin mining bios F43

[tacotime]

My advice is to not run these cards above 1000 mV